Painting & Sherwin Williams Emerald Paint Review

I bet you did not know this. I actually minored in interior design and got my start in professional photography by photographing rooms and interior design products for companies. I've been published in Architectural Digest, Southern Accents, Veranda, and Elle Decor. I like to think that I know what I'm doing when it come to interior design, which is why I was really excited when we purchased a blank slate of a house.

Our house was built in 1908. It's considered a Victorian Builders Cottage, which basically means it's Victorian leaning in the details but wasn't built by an architect. It was likely a contractor that built the house who had worked on Victorian builds in the past and sort of just threw the house together in a way that made sense to him based on what he had picked up. 

This house has no hallways and every room other than the bedroom, office, and bathroom are off of this foyer, so we felt like it should be our first project. 

We wanted to go with a bold paint color and are aiming to make it sort of like little sitting area/bar area/art gallery. 

So, here is what we started with:

And here is the semi-finished project:

We took the green color from the palm trees on the old box. The color, Kendal Green SW6467, accents our art and furniture perfectly. 

What still needs to be done: Refinishing the floors, buy a rug and ottoman, hang more art. 

(if you know of a green way to refinish wood floors, please share it with me)

This is probably my favorite thing in the house. Our TV stand was too big for our living room so we repurposed it into a bar. The doors will soon be removed for a wine rack and there will be wine glass sliding holders in the open spots.

I'm not entirely sure I like that mirror there yet. I may add a large print by one of my favorite contemporary artists, Ana Tzarev. The prints on the table are by Ana Tzarev.

I love how this paint looks different in different light. These photos were taken throughout the day to show the variety of looks. (The above illustration of Kermit was done for the Detroit Institute of Arts by Henson Associates.) 

Sherwin Williams Emerald Paint Review

It's very important to me to keep everything that we add to this house as green as possible. The paint that we used is from Sherwin Williams. It's a new, self priming sustainable paint with zero VOCs. 

VOCs or Volatile Organic Compounds are gasses that are emitted from various things in your house. It's usually from paint or varnishes, but can come from your printer or even craft supplies like glue or permanent markers. VOCs are higher indoors for these reasons, which is why we wanted to go with a zero VOC paint. 

Before I go on the review,  let me say that neither my husband or myself are professional painters. We are amateurs at best. I like this paint a lot. 

If you've ever used zero VOC paint before you probably have noticed that it's a little thinner than your typical paint. For this reason, we had to do three coats, which is my only minor issue with this paint. When hanging photos I drew pencil lines on the walls and was shocked at how easily it rubbed off with a damp sponge. The cleaning showed no water marking on the finish either. 

My favorite part of this paint was how easy it was to clean. For that reason alone I'll be using it in every room of our home. We have plaster walls and I was somewhat worried about the finish I chose showing the imperfections in the walls. There's only one spot you can see and it's near the baseboard. I was expecting a lot more, so I'm very happy with this.

As far as the VOC's. This paint has very minimal odor and it dried quickly. We started painting around 6pm, were done by 10, and it was completely dry in the morning with no odor in the house.

Drips cleaned up easily off the floor and baseboards, as long as we wiped them as soon as we saw them. Overall, it's going to take you a little longer to paint three coats, but it's a great paint that cleans easily, has great environmental and indoor air benefits and the color match is the best I've seen. 

Brand: Emerald: Approx $70/gallon

Color:Kendal Green

Finish: Satin/Eggshell

The Giveaway

One winner will win Emerald Paint for one room in their home. The giveaway starts Monday July 9th at 10am Central Time and ends Monday July 16 at 10am Central Time. Winner will be chosen by random.org and notified on this post. Winner has 24 hours to claim prize or new winner will be chosen. 

Congrats Charisse!

To Enter:

Mandatory: Leave a comment below telling me which room in your house you'd love to paint and what color. 

Additional Entries:

Please leave a comment for each additional entry. More than one entry on one comment will not be counted.

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